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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Unused renewable energy an option for powering NFT trade    
      
     Date:   
         July 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         Cornell University   
     Summary:   
         Unused solar, wind, and hydroelectric power in the U.S. could   
         support the exponential growth of transactions involving   
         non-fungible tokens (NFTs), researchers have found.   
      
      
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   Unused solar, wind, and hydroelectric power in the U.S. could support   
   the exponential growth of transactions involving non-fungible tokens   
   (NFTs), Cornell Engineering researchers have found.   
      
   Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems   
   Engineering in Cornell Engineering, is corresponding author of "Climate   
   Concerns and the Future of Non-Fungible Tokens: Leveraging Environmental   
   Benefits of the Ethereum Merge," which published July 10 in Proceedings   
   of the National Academy of Sciences. You's co-author is Apoorv Lal,   
   graduate student in chemical and biomolecular engineering and a member   
   of the You Research Group.   
      
   Processing of NFT transactions, which has increased fourfold over   
   the past five years, was once highly energy-intensive but has been   
   made more sustainable with a recent switch to a more energy-efficient   
   algorithm. But those savings, the researchers said, will be largely   
   offset by the anticipated boom in yearly NFT activity.   
      
   Excess renewable energy, due to lack of storage capability, forces grid   
   operators to curtail production. You's idea would put that unused energy-   
   production potential to good use.   
      
   "It's the same idea as a car sitting in someone's garage," You said. "If   
   it's not being driven, they could lend it to someone for carsharing. In   
   our case, wind, solar and hydro power sources that aren't being utilized   
   could be used to do something good."  "Of course, this would be up   
   to the industry and policymakers," he said, "but technology-wise, we   
   show it's very feasible because these power sources are there already."   
   Their key finding: The increased NFT processing activity could be powered,   
   in part, from un- or underutilized existing power sources. Fifty megawatts   
   of potential hydropower from existing U.S. dams that are not currently   
   used to generate power, or a 15% utilization of wind and solar energy   
   that can't currently be used or stored from sources in Texas, could be   
   used to power an exponential increase in NFT transactions.   
      
   Blockchain technologies, including NFT transactions, offer a high level   
   of security in a variety of applications, but the energy required to   
   process each transaction is problematic in a warming world.   
      
   "In the beginning, people only cared about the usefulness of these   
   applications," Lal said. "But then they started to realize the energy   
   and climate impacts, because the crux of all these applications is the   
   utilization of massive amounts of energy."  Without any efforts to make   
   NFT transaction processing more sustainable, the authors wrote, their   
   annual emissions will reach an equivalent of 0.37 megatons of carbon   
   dioxide -- close to the CO2 emissions from 1 million single-trip flights   
   for a passenger from New York to London.   
      
   In September of 2022, the Ethereum blockchain responded to the call for   
   more sustainable trading by switching from an energy-intensive proof of   
   work (PoW) algorithm to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which   
   requires less computing power. Energy consumption decreased drastically   
   following the switch, known as the Ethereum Merge.   
      
   Still, the authors wrote, an exponential rise in recorded NFT transactions   
   would translate to more validators operating on the network. Toward the   
   end of this decade, energy consumed by an exponential increase in NFT   
   transactions could be equivalent to that of 100,000 U.S. households.   
      
   So even with significantly less energy consumption for individual NFT   
   transactions, the cumulative effect of increased numbers of validators   
   operating on fossil fuel-dominant grids will lead to a further rise in   
   the associated carbon debt.   
      
   "By the end of this decade," You said, "the carbon produced by NFT   
   transactions may be roughly equivalent to that produced in one year   
   by a 600-megawatt coal- fired power plant."  The authors evaluated two   
   hydroelectric energy carriers -- green hydrogen and green ammonia (more   
   energy-dense than hydrogen) -- for their viability, noting that their cost   
   savings are influenced by multiple factors, including transportation   
   distances and the utilization levels of available renewable energy   
   sources.   
      
   Retrofitting these existing power sources could be challenging, the   
   authors said, but would still be good for energy carriers and the planet.   
      
   "NFT processing is very power-hungry," You said, "so this turns out to   
   be a good way to take advantage of these curtailments."  You is a senior   
   faculty fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and   
   co-director of Cornell University AI for Science Institute.   
      
   This research was supported by a grant from the National Science   
   Foundation.   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Cornell_University. Original written   
   by Tom Fleischman, courtesy of the Cornell Chronicle. Note: Content may   
   be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Apoorv Lal, Fengqi You. Climate concerns and the future of   
      nonfungible   
         tokens: Leveraging environmental benefits of the Ethereum Merge.   
      
         Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (29)   
         DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303109120   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710180443.htm   
      
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